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Tuesday, 5 July 2011

When friends with reputations like Bridget Davis (Bridget_Cooks) and @Iconic88 take on a new venture you could bet money that it will be an experience not to be missed. Their latest venture the Montgomery Street Cafe is really no exception.With credentials like The Internet Chef herself brings to the occasion you can be forgiven for setting pretty high expectations for your visit. Or at least Mr T and I did. The team at Montgomery Street did a great job of sharing the process of preparing the Cafe for business with tweets of the menu in development and watching the renovations unfold via YouTube. Our appetites were whet.

Once an unplanned overseas trip, lengthy delays to return and an accident put a stop to my visiting sooner I was well ready as they entered their 3rd week of operation, with my hungry husband in tow (who had checked all of Bridget’s recipes and had decided what he was getting before we even arrived!).

Of course after hearing some much about these damned “Best #mofo eggs” we just hads to have them. We arrived on a gloriously warm Saturday morning. I was greeted the moment I entered through the door . That set the pace for the excellent service we had throughout our visit, attentive yet unhurried and relaxed. The Cafe is situated in a lovely old building of which Montgomery Street still features a few along the street. The interior is warm and understated with beautiful brick work and comfortable seating. The large accordion windows let in a beautiful stream of light making for pleasant dining. The music is also well selected to accompany the relaxed and classy feel of the place.Straight up we had to have our coffees. I love a good Campos brew but also have had enough bad experiences with mediocre baristas to know that even those fine beans can suffer cruel indignity. But... we were half way through our first cup when I quietly mumbled “I think we’ll be having another of these”, “Yep” was the emphatic response! So after a fine start we spied our breakfasts. Dining silence fell over the table as we experienced how yes indeed the eggs were incredible, how lovely the mushrooms were and wasn’t the addition of roasted cumin seeds on the tomatoes delicious? The lamb sausages were fabulous and even the crusty sourdough slices (of Brasserie Bread fame) just the perfect accompaniment. Clean flavours and the finest ingredients. Even the ‘Tradie brekkie’ roll features duck & veal sausages from the Barossa! I spied chicken rashers on the menu as well which I haven’t enjoyed since leaving New Zealand so there are more than a few dishes I would like to sample now!

Those second coffees were ordered along with a couple of counter treats (another delectable selection) including something that came with a warning, the salted caramel. “It’s like crack” I was told. I did not heed those words of course but became all too aware of their truth when the following day I may have threatened Mr T with bodily harm as he joked that he ate it all while I was out!We’re grateful to have such a great “local” to go without the hurriedness of the more ‘recognisable’ Sydney suburbs. So much so the rest of the family is heading in on Saturday! Even worth getting up early for!